It Simply Is
by mazie kate
Summary: When a potion explodes, Melinda Halliwell gets the shock of her life and so do a few other people. This is a story about letting go and moving on.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing at all.

Chapter 1

Melinda Halliwell had always prided herself on keeping magical mishaps involving her to a minimum. Of course there had been times when she had screwed up, turning someone into an animal, making a potion blow up, and the occasional personal gain backfire. Through all of that, she never caused as much magical drama as the twins, that was far sure. In fact the worst thing she had ever done was conjure a prom date using an old spell for Mr. Right that she had found. And really, that was Aunt Paige's fault; it was after all her old spell. But still she could remember the personal gain police, her older brother Christopher, lecturing her about it. Melinda had a feeling this could be worse.

Moments earlier, she had been making a potion, a potion that blew up. But instead of finding herself on the floor covered in the various ingredients, she found herself being caught up in a swirl of blue and white lights.

Just as quickly as it started it was over and she was indeed on her backside in the attic staring at the ceiling. "Oh that hurt" she said pulling herself up of the ground.

"What the…" a familiar voice yelped from across the room.

Melinda turned toward the voice fully ready to defend herself against the coming lecture, after all she hadn't screwed up that bad. She rushed over to the young man standing by the book of shadows.

"Oh thank goodness Chris you here. For a seconded there I thought I really messed something up and before you lecture me on the importance of …" she trailed off taking a good look at her brother. He wasn't wearing the same cloths that he had on this morning when she had seen him.

"Wait, how come your hair is so long?"

Chris looked at her like she was crazy. This was not right. Chris was so thin, too thin and dark circles shown under his eyes, eyes that looked so haunted, so tired.

"Who are you" Chris asked

"That's what we would like to know"

Melinda turned around to see her mother and two aunts glaring at her from the attic doorway. A much younger version of her mother and aunts. She looked back and forth between Chris and her family's younger counterparts and slapped her hand to her forehead, this was very bad and all she could say was "Oh crap"


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own anything charmed related.

Thanks for all the feedback; this is my first fan fic, so I am still learning as I go. I'm sure something like this story has been done before, but this is my spin on things.

Summery: A story about letting go and moving on.

**Chapter 2**

Melinda knew it was bad; there was no getting around that, it was bad. She was in the past with her aunts, her mother, and her brother all looking at her like she was a demon that needed to be vanquished. '_I am in so much trouble'_ she thought '_I am in so much trouble, this is what I get for gripping about not getting to travel back in time like Chris and Wy'_

Melinda hung her head and made a step toward her mother "Look here's the deal, I can't …" she started before she felt her body being lifted up.

"Get away from them!"

She braced for the impact of the wall rushing up to meet her. "Oh! What the heck, that hurt!" She pulled herself off the floor and whirled around to face her brother.

"Did you just TK me. Into a wall! I can not believe you just TKed me Chris!" Melinda said outraged.

"Piper, freeze her" said Paige.

Piper's hand flew up and she flicked but nothing happened.

"Why isn't she freezing" Phoebe asked

"Oh I don't know, because I'm a good witch! For the love of all that is sane and holy!" Melinda ranted.

"We don't know that. Who is she Chris, another girlfriend from the future" Piper spat

"Gross, No! Are you insane?" Melinda turned to look at her brother in time to see a look of hurt flicker across his face. '_Bianca_' she thought.

"She obviously knows you and that your half witch, something we just found out about by the way" Paige stated.

Chris rolled his eyes "I said I was sorry"

"And I said don't come back to my house till you stop with the lies and here we are again with another future girl who knows you" said Piper.

"But you don't know me, do you" Melinda asked quietly while thinking _'Mom threw him out of the house?'_

"No, I don't know you, are you from the future? Cause if you are, you have to keep your mouth shut about it. You could mess with it and change it. And if you are from the future, who are you and why are you here" Chris questioned.

"Of course you would want her to keep her mouth shut" Piper said.

Melinda couldn't believe the tone her mother was directing at Chris. I mean for goodness sakes this was her peanut she was talking to. Melinda knew her mother didn't know that yet apparently, but it made her cringe. And poor Chris, she knew it happened, but seeing it, hearing it, and feeling a little taste of it herself. How did he do it? She was about to cry just from the way her mother was looking at her and that was nothing compared to how she was treating Chris.

"Look yes I am from the future, and I know Chris's name, but I don't really know him".

It wasn't a lie, she didn't know this Chris, she thought she did, but she didn't. Chris had never tolled her she didn't exist in his original future. She thought maybe she had died or something, but not that she wasn't ever there. The events that had taken place a year and a half ago come rushing back to her. She looked into Chris's eyes; they were so sad and tired. And even though she had seen parts of that in the Chris in her time, there had still been trust, faith, and laughter mixed in. Even in the hardest of those days, he was still her Chris, the brother she had grown up with. But this Chris had an evil brother, no sister, a mom who died when he was 14, and a dad that wasn't around. And the family standing in front of him didn't see who he was. She wanted to tell him he did it. That the future was wonderful. That it had changed, but she knew she couldn't.

"I need to get back and I need your help" Melinda begged.

"Chris make yourself useful and go check up there about this" Paige said pointing up toward elderland.

"They didn't know about him, how are they going no about her?" Phoebe asked

"Well go anyway and ask Leo to help you" Piper said adding "And I'm working with you, but you are still not allowed around Wyatt, got it"

"I'm trying to save Wyatt from…" Chris started

"From turning evil" Melinda finished before she could stop herself.

"Oh so you know about this too, maybe you're the one whose going after him" Piper accused.

"I so am not" Melinda defended herself while thinking '_This is how Chris felt when they accused him of this. Ugh, remember she doesn't know, she's being a good mom protecting Wyatt.'_

"Ok I'm going to go check and see if they know anything." Chris said " I don't think she's bad, but maybe they can help us get her home."

"Thank you Chris" her big brother always took care of her.

Chris nodded and orbed out.

"Wyatt really is evil?" Piper asked looking slightly hopeful that she would say no.

Before Melinda could answer, blue and white lights engulfed the space in front of her. When all the colors faded a figure dropped hard to the ground at her feet. The woman slowly pulled herself up and faced Melinda. Shocked Melinda looked into the face of a very pissed off lady. She waved her hands in front of her throat to try and get her not to say anything, but she was mad and there was no shutting her up.

"Melinda Victoria Halliwell! What did you do?"

Melinda slapped her hand to her forehead and pointed to the others standing behind by the door.

The woman turned around to face her younger self and her sister's younger selves.

"Oh crap" she said.

"Piper" asked Paige.

"Halliwell" Said Phoebe

"Melinda Victoria" Piper said "Oh my god, that's me and you, that's what I was going to name Wyatt if he was a girl, are you my daughter?"

" No, I'm not, really, I don't look a thing like you" Melinda said feebly

"Yes, actually you do" Past Piper stated

"Cat's outta the bag, Way to go Mom." Melinda said to her mother '_How are we gonna fix this'_

"You time traveled, are you insane young lady. We are going to have to cast a spell to make them forget or memory dust. What year is this?" Future Piper asked

Blue and white orbs filled the room. " They don't know anything about her, Leo is on his…" Chris stopped, his eyes on the new visitor in the attic.

Future Piper's breath caught in her throat. "Chris" she breathed. There was nothing that could've prepared her for this.

Melinda watched as her brother's face went completely white. His eyes rolled back in his head. And she watched as her brother's body went limp and hit the ground.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Still own nothing.

Summery: A story about letting go and moving on.

This is my first fic, so I'm learning as I go.

Chapter 3

Melinda couldn't believe how careless her mother and been. She hadn't even checked out her surrounding before she jumped down her throat. And that was just not like her mom, her mom was not careless. Looking at her now, Melinda knew it was just going to get worse. Her mother was looking a Chris, who was passed out on the floor, and her eyes said it all. Her mother was lost to her now; it would be up to her to keep the others from finding out who Chris was. Not that she was sure how much it mattered, they knew who she was, and a spell would be needed to make them forget anyway, if it would even work.

'_We are in deep pooh-pooh'_ Melinda thought as she turned her attention to her brother's prone body.

"Paige, can you orb him to the couch" Melinda asked as she knelt down beside her brother.

"Shouldn't that be Aunt Paige missy, and why can't you orb him yourself?" Paige questioned assuming she was half whitelighter like Wyatt.

"I can't orb" Melinda stated

"You can't orb, then Leo can't be your father" Piper said disappointed. She had held hope deep inside that she and Leo would find their way back to each other. But this confirmed they never did.

Melinda ignored her mother's past self and motioned for Paige. "Aunt Paige, a little orbing, a little orbing please."

"All right" Paige said "You really are her daughter." She held up hand at Chris and said "Chris sofa"

Melinda watched as Chris's body orbed from the floor to the sofa. She went over to check on him. The shock that he had just had, coupled with the fact that he looked physically exhausted, meant he could me out for a while, which was good.

Melinda glanced at her mother, who had yet to move from the spot she stood in or to say anything. Unshed tears were forming in her eyes as she looked at her son.

"Mom, we need to find a way to fix this and get home now" Melinda said gently

"No" Future Piper shock her head, never taking her eyes off Chris.

"Mom" Melinda begged.

"Everything happens for a reason; maybe we're here because we're supposed to be." Future Piper reasoned.

"Mom, how did you get here anyway?" Melinda asked.

"Phoebe had a vision of you disappearing; she said you went to another plane, not the past. I remixed the potion ingredients from the list you made to try and get to you."

"Another plane, like the astral plan?" So that explained why she didn't check, she thought she knew where she was.

"Excuse me, remember us? What the heck is going on?" Phoebe asked throwing her hands in the air.

"Why did Chris hit the dirt when he saw Piper, I mean future Piper? He looked like he had just seen a ghost." Paige said.

'_In a way he did'_ thought Melinda.

"Maybe he knew the gig was up, that my future self was about to blow he's lying little butt outta the water and tell us the real reason he's here" Past Piper reasoned.

'_Oh no'_ thought Melinda as she saw the anger in her mom's eyes.

Future Piper whirled around to face her past self, anger written all over her face. "Shut up, don't you dare say that, don't you dare say anything like that about him ever again".

"Mom" Melinda warned

But her mother ignored her as she moved closer to her younger version. "You don't know anything! He's saving Wyatt, do you realize that! You are so stupid!" she screamed.

"Okay, let's just calm down" Paige said stepping between the two versions of her sister. "Obviously Chris knows your future self, and said future self likes him. So we now know we can trust him, that's a good thing."

"You should have trusted him all along; you have no idea what you've done" Future Piper spat.

"Well he hasn't given us a reason to trust him" Past Piper said defensively.

"He shouldn't have had to. You've made this impossible for him, how could you not know?" said Future Piper as she moved to sit down by Chris. "It's okay, your gonna be okay. I'll make sure of that this time. I'm going to fix it, I promise".

"Mom, you can't it could change the future" Melinda warned quietly

"This needs to change; I can't be here and not do anything to stop it. I can't let this happen Melinda" Future Piper whispered desperately.

"Mom, we have a good life, Chris made sure of that." Melinda said.

"But what about him, what about last year? Maybe changing this would stop that from ever happening?"

"Mom, if you try to change this, everything Chris fought for could be lost" Melinda tried get through to her mother.

"We can tell them everything they need to know to save Wyatt, the only thing that would change is all the pain he's going to suffer." Future Piper said.

"We don't know that" Melinda said.

Her mother started crying; she picked up Chris hand and held in gently. "I can't let this happen" She turned to Chris "I'm so sorry baby"

Past Piper couldn't hear all that was being said, but she heard baby. She wondered why they cared so much for Chris. The devotion she saw went beyond gratitude for saving Wyatt. She looked at her future self and for the first time really looked at Chris. The way her future self was looking at him, it was the way she and Leo looked at Wyatt. He knew the house, knew them, knew the book, he was trying to save Wyatt. He was half witch half whitelighter. She looked at his sleeping face. _'It couldn't be possible'_ she thought.

Melinda glanced over at her younger mother and she knew. The veil was being lifted. The pieces were coming together and all hell was about to break loose.

"Oh my god, oh my god" Past Piper cried taking a step toward Chris.

"Don't you dare come near him. You told him you never wanted to see him again, you threw him out of this house. He risked his very existence to come here. He's going to hate you, he'll never forgive you." Future Piper tore into her.

It was at this moment that Leo orbed in the attic. "We still don't know anything about this girl... What happened to Chris? Oh my god. Piper is that you?" Leo asked pointing to the older women who looked so much like his ex wife.

"Yep, that's her. Glad you're here Leo. The Pipers are not getting along to well and we are very confused" Phoebe said.

"Wow you look good for… how old are you." Leo asked

"She's fifty four" Melinda answered her father.

"And this little lady is Piper's daughter from the future, not your daughter though, she can't orb." Paige said

"Oh" was all Leo could say, so Piper really moved on in the future, without him.

"He's my son" Past Piper said ignoring the other chatter.

"No he's my son, he's my baby." Future Piper said.

"What, whose your son?" Paige asked lost.

"CHRIS IS MY SON". Future Piper screamed.

"What, oh my god he is" Phoebe agreed the emotions in the room finally getting to her, she sink down in a chair holding her head.

"He's what" Leo asked "Chris isn't your son"

"He's your son too you idiot" Future Piper said

"Chris, oh my god that's my father's name" Leo said shocked.

"Dad maybe you should sit down" Melinda said not thinking as she moved to her father.

"Dad?"

" Oh hell! Well we are screwed anyway. Yep you're my dad, I'm Chris's sister. No I can't orb, don't ask" Melinda stated

"Look I know this is a shock for all of you, but you need to get over it. I'm not letting my son die again." Future Piper said

"Mom, stop" Melinda warned. They knew better than this, they had said too much already. How could they have let this happen.

"Die, what do you mean die?" Past Piper asked

"Chris going to die trying to save Wyatt."


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Still own nothing.

Summery: A story about letting go and moving on.

This is my first fic, so I'm learning as I go. Thanks for all the positive feedback.

Chapter 4

Piper's Future Self was about to lose it. How could these people have been so stupid? How could she have been so stupid? Judging by the looks on their faces, the truth, the guilt, and the utter shock of it all was taking a while to settle in. And she didn't have time for them to feel sorry for themselves; she needed them to take action.

"Chris is going to die" Future Piper repeated again.

"No he's not, we wouldn't let that happen, even if we didn't know, we wouldn't let that happen." Past Piper shook her head, not willing to believe that she would let her child die.

"You did, you couldn't stop it. You let your child die, you let him die" the older woman said tears pouring down her face. She moved back over to sit down by Chris who was still out cold. "But we'll fix it this time baby; I won't let them make the same mistakes twice."

Melinda knew her mother was not thinking rationally, she wasn't thinking like a witch, she was thinking like a mother. She looked over at her father, he looked so confused.

"I'm Chris's father" Leo said dazed "I'm your father?" he asked Melinda

"Snap out of it Leo, you have to save your son" Future Piper ordered "We don't have time for this. Do you realize he's going to die in your arms, and you going to go crazy for months?"

"Mom, stop it, what you're not telling them, is that changing Chris's death could change the future he saved." Melinda shouted.

"Wait a minute; you two aren't from Chris's future." Phoebe asked.

"His future never happened for all of you, he changed it. He saved Wyatt. We're from a good future, a future we can't risk changing" Melinda stated. '_Wish is why we're going to have to do a little hocus pocus on all of you so you won't remember any of this'_

"Chris saved Wyatt, Wyatt's not evil" Past Piper asked.

"No Wyatt is a very good witch and a great brother. He's a big dork; he doesn't have an evil bone in his body." Melinda said thinking of her laid back big brother.

"But Chris is dead" Past Piper said tears in her eyes.

"It's complicated" Melinda tried to explain "Chris died protecting Wyatt on the same day he was born."

"Say what?" asked Paige.

"I was in labor, with baby Chris. There were some complications. We were trying to get this Chris home. But evil was making things difficult. Spells were cast; Barbus was using our fears against us. Chris was alone with Wyatt; he was stabbed with a cursed blade. Leo couldn't heal him, he died in his arms. His baby self was born a few hours later." Future Piper chocked out the story.

"You'll get pregnant in less than two months with Chris" Melinda explained to her mother's past self. "You'll know who he is then, Aunt Paige and Aunt Phoebe will tell you, they found out first."

"What about me, when will I know" Leo asked not willing to believe he would lose a son he never knew he had.

"You found out six months after I do, when Chris beats the crap out of you" Future Piper said absently.

"He hates me" Leo said

"He doesn't know you, you were not really there for him in his future" Future Piper said

"But that's a future that never came to be, you're a wonderful dad in the future we come from" Melinda added. "And though he had issues, you guys were on good terms in the end."

"What about me, why did he look like he had just seen a ghost when he saw me, future me?" Past Piper asked

"Because you're dead, you died when he was fourteen years old. So did his aunts. My little boy didn't have anybody but his grandfather." Said future Piper.

"Oh my God" Past Piper gasped. She knew Chris came from a bad future, but she had no idea how horrible his life truly was. No mother or father, no aunts, an evil brother, and two days ago she had kicked him out of his own house.

"Okay let's focus here, if Chris was born, then he really didn't die, he's alive in your future right?" Phoebe asked hopefully, still feeling sadness radiating off of the two future women.

"There was a price to pay, things happened that shouldn't have. If we save Chris from death in this time, we could save him from it in our time" Future Piper said.

"Are you saying he died in your future too" Past Piper asked hoping the answer would be no.

"Yes, he did, you lost your son again"


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Still own nothing.

Summery: A story about letting go and moving on.

This is my first fic, so I'm learning as I go. Thanks for all the positive feedback.

This chapter is mostly Future Piper talking about Chris. This is kind of filler chapter; I'm trying to figure out where to go from here.

Chapter 5

The silence in the attic of Halliwell Manor was deafening. Two mothers, who except for age and experience were one and the same, sat both grieving. One for a child she had raised and known all his life and even before his life had started. Another for a child she only just found out was hers. A father who could not believe he would let his son die in his arms unable to heal him, to save him in this time and in the future. Two aunts, who did not understand why, with all their powers, they couldn't save their family again. And a sister, who loved her brother more than anything, but who knew that by changing a single moment of time could mean losing a future he had fought so hard to save. A sister that knew there would be no way to spare him the pain he and her family would have to suffer, no matter how much her mother wanted to.

And so they sat, in silence. All staring at the face of a sleeping man, boy really, who it seemed they were destined to lose, each in a different way. And yet, Melinda knew that death was not the only road to loss.

Future Piper began to speak, not about the fate of her son, or what would happen, but instead she talked about a little boy her past self had yet to know.

"Chris was such a content baby, he hardly ever cried, never fussed. He was always looking around with his big eyes, trying to take everything in. Not like Wyatt. Wyatt was a ham from the second he was born, making alarms go off to get attention. He was such a little goof, still is. But not Christopher" Future Piper shared with her family's past selves.

They made no attempts to stop her, or to question her about what would happen, they just listened.

"No Chris was just content, trusting. You know he had powers since he was born, but we had no idea, not until he used them in front of dad when he was almost two years old. We just figured they hadn't developed yet. We found out later that he had always had them, and only Wyatt knew, he had just never really felt the need to use them. When we first brought him home from the hospital, Wyatt had a hard time adjusting to having a little brother. He would orb his pacifier away from him or his blanket. We thought he was even orbing Chris off places, turns out Chris was orbing himself. And Wyatt got in trouble for it." Future Piper laughed.

"I'm guessing he had powers from the womb too?" Past Piper asked

"No he didn't a fact he didn't like too much when he found out Wyatt did. But we found out later that he would have had powers from the womb, if this Chris hadn't been in the past using his." Future Piper tolled her past self.

"Do they, did they get along, Wyatt and Chris" Leo asked.

"Chris adored Wyatt, followed him every where. Wyatt was the same way about Chris, they were always so close, best friends. All three of them were always close. But those two boys could get into some stuff let me tell you. I never saw so many toys magically come to life."

"Not more dragons I hope" Past Piper smiled.

"Oh they pulled some stunts, all three of them" Future Piper said glancing at Melinda.

"Hey I did it to a Barbie doll, not a dinosaur." Melinda defended herself.

Future Piper smiled "Chris was slow with talking; he took forever to start, ironic since when he finally did, we couldn't get him to shut up. You know Wyatt and Melinda's first word was Mama, not Chris. Chris said everything else: Dada, Beebe, Pay Pay, even said Wyatt and Gramps before he said Mom. I couldn't stand it. I would try and try to get him to say it, but he would just smile and give me a hug. He was almost two years old before he said Mama. I was crying about something, I don't even know what it was about. He toddled over to me and wrapped his little arms around my neck and said Mom. He touched my face and said "Kwis love Mama." It was the first time he had said it since, since I heard him call me mom" she said pointing to Chris. "He followed every step I made after that, like my little shadow. Helped me clean and cook. Chris loves to cook, only one of my kids that could. Wyatt and Melinda set the kitchen on fire."

"One time and it was Wy's fault" Melinda said smiling remembering Chris orbing in with the fire hose and how her mother banished her and Wyatt from her kitchen after that.

"Chris was always so much like me, a good bit of Leo in him too. My stubbornness, a little bit neurotic" Future Piper smiled.

"A little bit?" questioned Paige sarcastically. Future Piper laughed.

"A whole lot of heart and strength, just like Mom" Melinda added. "And a walking talking Book of Shadows, just like Dad."

"It was hard not to look at this perfect little baby and not see a twenty two year old whose life was a living hell. Hard not to let your mind wonder to the place where you feared his birthday ever year, when you should have been celebrating it. It got easier as he got older, at least for a while. I convinced myself he was safe that history wouldn't repeat itself. There where moments when I saw it. Chris would say something or do something just the same way he did it in this time. Or he would say he had déjà vu about something. But I ignored it, didn't want to believe that he somehow knew." Tears poured down Future Piper's face.

Her younger counterpart took a deep breath and asked the question she wasn't sure she wanted answered. They could stop him from being killed now, but would it save him in the future, or would it be Prue all over again, except worse. Because this time, it was her child.

"What happens to our son?"


End file.
